Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms

With the holiday season right around the corner, I thought we could focus a few of the up coming post on hors ‘d orderves or horse divers as I have been known to call them. Get it? Never mind.

Back to the Big Easy on this one. This plate of stuffed mushrooms can be found on the menus of several fine restaurants all over New Orleans. While there are countless ways to stuff a mushroom, few are as extravagant as this zesty seafood version. Classic Cajun with a holy trinity base, crabmeat, lemon, Worcestershire sauce and a whole lot of Tabasco. I Gaa-ron-tee that these will be the hit of your Christmas slash Hanukah slash Quanza slash New Years party. Get it? Gaa-ron-tee, guarantee? Never mind.

Note: Can be doubled.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 large mushrooms, stems removed and caps wipe clean
• 2 stick butter, divided
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 small bell pepper, minced
• 1 rib celery, minced
• 1 lb lump crabmeat
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 4 tablespoons dry vermouth
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Tabasco Sauce®
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt 1/2 (1 stick) of the butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat then add the onion, bell pepper and celery (a.k.a. the holy trinity) and cook until the veggies are very tender, about 10 minutes. Next add the crabmeat and the 1/4 lemon juice and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the green onion, parsley, bread crumbs and a couple of dashes each of the Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces and mix well. Simmer for another 4 minutes, stirring often. Finally add the cayenne and then salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. Stuff the mushroom caps with the crabmeat mixture and place them on a baking sheet. (Over stuff these puppies. I mean look at how much stuffing is in each of those in the picture.) In a small pot, melt the remaining butter. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, the vermouth and a tablespoon or so of each Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces. Simmer for a minute and then generously spoon this mixture over the stuffed mushrooms.  Bake the mushrooms for 15 minutes and serve warm.

Serves 4 – 6

Heat Factor